


Socks

by FollowTheFirefly



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-26
Updated: 2014-02-26
Packaged: 2018-01-13 14:59:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1230745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FollowTheFirefly/pseuds/FollowTheFirefly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Enjolras annoys Grantaire by not fixing a broken air conditioner in the middle of summer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Socks

**Author's Note:**

> I do believe that this was my first Les Mis story. I got the idea in the middle of a heatwave last summer, but it was still fun to work on.

Grantaire was awoken from an otherwise nice dream when he felt something hit him in the middle of his back. Even though he had just woken up, he had a strong suspicion as to what awoke him from his slumber. Turning over, Grantaire saw the dark outline of Enjolras sprawled out across the bed. This didn’t surprise him in the slightest. Enjolras had the habit of taking over most of the bed, something that always annoyed Grantaire.

It appeared that Enjolras’ actions wouldn’t be any different that night. The only thing that was different was the unusual heat in the bedroom. Paris was experiencing a particularly bad heat wave and Grantaire and Enjolras were unlucky enough to have a malfunctioning air conditioner. Enjolras insisted that it wasn’t that warm outside, but Grantaire had to disagree. After all, he kept waking up in the middle of the night dripping with sweat. If that wasn’t an indication of warm weather, Grantaire didn’t know what was. 

As if this wasn’t bad enough, Enjolras apparently felt that the room wasn’t as warm as he’d like it to be. The blonde had taken up the habit of wearing socks to bed, claiming that his feet got cold. However, Grantaire was awoken whenever Enjolras would attempt to take his socks off in the middle of the night. He claimed that this never happened, but the socks thrown haphazardly across the room suggested otherwise. Grantaire had hardly slept more than three hours each night in the last week and the lack of proper sleep was starting to take its toll. 

Grantaire stared at the outline of the man next to him. How Enjolras could sleep in such heat, he’d never know. Maybe the room was getting a bit warm for Enjolras, as the blonde was fumbling to take his socks off in his sleep again.

“Oh, come off it…” Grantaire grumbled as Enjolras threw the socks across the room in his sleep.

Enjolras didn’t appear to hear him. He rolled over and continued snoring slightly as he slept on.

“Of course you would,” Grantaire rolled his eyes as he turned over and tried to fall asleep again, even though he knew that it wasn’t likely to work.

-

The next time Grantaire awoke, it was to the sound of his cell phone alerting him to a new text. Sluggishly rubbing his eyes, he slammed his hand on the bedside table a few times in an attempt to grab his phone. After a few tries, Grantaire managed to reach his phone and, after unlocking the screenlock, got to his text messages and found that it was from Courfeyrac.

Courfeyrac (10:17)- You know you slept through our lecture this morning, right? 

Grantaire smacked his hand to his forehead. He knew deciding to take summer classes would come back to bite him in the end. 

You (10:18)- Yeah, my bad. Did I miss anything important?  
Courfeyrac (10:19)- Not really. Just the same as yesterday. Want to get notes later at the café?  
You (10:19)- Please and thanks?  
Courfeyrac (10:20)- No problem. Meet me at Musain at noon.

Grantaire groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. He knew taking a morning class would be a bad idea. He figured that having Courfeyrac in the same class would mean that he would actually show up for lectures, but apparently that plan backfired on him.

Throwing back the covers, Grantaire got out of bed and got dressed before he headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He paused at the kitchen counter after seeing a hand-written note resting next to the toaster.

Turns out that the AC is completely busted. I’ll call to get it fixed after I get out of my lecture. –E

Grantaire sighed as his eyes scanned the note. The broken air conditioner certainly explained why it was so hot in the small apartment. Reaching for a pad of paper and a pencil, Grantaire wrote a note in response:

Yeah, you’d better get it fixed. I told you it was broken in the first place. Going to meet Courfeyrac at Musain at noon. See you when I get back. –R

-

“Holy shit, ‘Taire, you look exhausted.”

Courfeyrac didn’t have to guess as to why his friend was so tired. Enjolras had told him that the air conditioner in their apartment was broken, so their domicile was rather warm. Grantaire always slept better in the cold- Courfeyrac remembered when they were roommates with Feuilly and Jehan before the cynic moved in with Enjolras. Grantaire always liked to sleep with the room at frigid temperatures, something that always annoyed his flatmates.

“Damn right, I’m exhausted,” Grantaire said through a yawn. “Enj kept me up most of the night.”

“I really didn’t need to know that…” Courfeyrac said slowly.

“Not with sex, smart-ass,” Grantaire smacked Courfeyrac upside the head. 

“I don’t get it,” Courfeyrac frowned.

“Enjolras likes to sleep with socks on, but he ends up taking them off in the middle of the night,” Grantaire explained. 

“Why is that so bad?” Courfeyrac wondered.

“Because he keeps waking me up when he takes them off in his sleep,” Grantaire went on. “He manages to backhand me or kick me in the ribs or something like that.”

“Sounds painful,” Courfeyrac said as he sipped on his cup of coffee.

“And it’s already bad enough with the room being as hot as it is,” Grantaire continued to copy the notes from Courfeyrac. “I just hope Enjolras manages to get it fixed.”

“Did you talk to your landlord about it?” Courfeyrac asked.

“Enj left a note this morning saying that he was going to call about it,” Grantaire responded, turning over to a fresh page in his notebook. “I’m assuming he’s talking about the landlord.”

“Well, I guess you’ll find out when you get back home,” Courfeyrac said. 

“Yeah, he’d better have done something,” Grantaire had his eyes on the paper in front of him as he copied his friend’s notes. “I’ve been tempted to ask if I can stay at your place at night.”

“I don’t think Joly or Combeferre would mind,” Courfeyrac shrugged. “But what would Enjolras think of that?”

“He wouldn’t like it, which is why I’ll stick it out,” Grantaire finished the last of his notes and handed the notebook back to Courfeyrac. “Thanks for the notes, man.”

“No problem,” Courfeyrac put the notebook back in his backpack, which was slung over the side of his chair. “Just make sure you actually show up for Tuesday’s lecture.”

-

“Hey, R, I talked to the landlord and he said-”

Enjolras stopped midsentence as he walked into the living room and shut the door behind him. He wasn’t expecting to find the other man asleep on the couch. Grantaire had apparently been trying to read something, but had fallen asleep in the process. His book, Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut, had fallen to the floor where it sat next to a glass of wine.

“Shouldn’t be surprised about that,” Enjolras smirked as he picked up the glass, carried it to the kitchen and sat it down on the table. 

Going back into the living room, Enjolras walked past his sleeping boyfriend and straight to the fish tanks next to the bookcases. He and Grantaire both had betta fish and although Enjolras had suggested they both save money and get one tank for goldfish, Grantaire had claimed that he wanted to keep betta fish instead. He’d picked a blue fish that he had named Magnus while Enjolras opted for a red and white betta that he had named Patria, though Grantaire thought it was a rather strange name for a fish.

“Patria is a better name than Magnus,” Enjolras whispered to himself as he started to clean the tank.

After about ten minutes of struggling with the fish, Enjolras had Patria in a little cup that he put on the coffee table across from where Grantaire was sleeping. After another ten minutes, the large tank was soaking in vinegar water and Enjolras was making himself a snack of cheese and crackers in the kitchen. Even though he was doing his best to stay quiet, as to not wake Grantaire, the plate he dropped crashed rather loudly when it hit the tile floor.

Grantaire jumped awake, looking as if a gunshot had gone off in the apartment. He looked around to see Enjolras cleaning up the plate pieces off the floor. He looked up, saw that the other man was awake, and grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry?”

“No, I know you didn’t mean it,” Grantaire rubbed his eyes together to wake up properly. “What happened?”

“I was trying to make cheese and crackers as a snack before I made dinner,” Enjolras explained as he threw the broken pieces of the plate into the trashcan under the sink.

“I already made it,” Grantaire stretched his arms above his head. “When I got off work.”

“You did?” Enjolras frowned as he opened the fridge and scanned its contents. 

“Bacon alfredo,” Grantaire stood up and walked over to the fridge and pointed out the proper bowl.

“You made something that didn’t have wine in it?” Enjolras looked at Grantaire in surprise. “Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?”

“It’s possible for me to make something without alcohol, mon cher,” Grantaire gave Enjolras a quick kiss before moving back into the living room. “How was class today?”

“Not bad,” Enjolras said. “We learned about proper interviewing skills and what to wear during an interview.”

“I still want to see you in a suit someday,” Grantaire grinned as he sipped from his cup of wine that had been sitting on the coffee table. 

“I wore a suit to that art gallery we went to!” Enjolras exclaimed. “The time when your painting was being displayed, remember?”

“Yes, I do,” Grantaire walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. “That was when I displayed that painting of Courfeyrac.”

“And it looked quite nice, too,” Enjolras walked into the room carrying the large fish tank with him.

“Is Patria getting a clean tank today?” Grantaire watched Enjolras dump the vinegar water out into the sink.

“It’s about time, too,” Enjolras nodded. “Get out the Clorox, would you?”

“Did you talk to the landlord about the AC yet?” Grantaire went underneath the sink, grabbed the bottle of Clorox and handed it to Enjolras. 

“Yes, I did,” Enjolras told the other man as he sprayed the sink down with disinfectant. 

“And?” Grantaire asked. “What did he say?”

“He called the company right in front of me, but no one answered the call,” Enjolras filled up the fish tank again before he started to take it back to the living room. “He left a message and said he’ll try to let us know what’s going on tomorrow.”

“Okay, I guess that’s all we can do for now,” Grantaire shrugged as he grabbed some Swedish Fish from the counter and following Enjolras into the living room. “I just wish I could sleep at night.”

“You haven’t been sleeping?” Enjolras looked at Grantaire in concern as he sat down on the couch next to him. 

“Why do you think I’ve been so exhausted lately?” Grantaire frowned. 

“I dunno?” Enjolras shrugged. “I figured you were working on a new project.”

“No, the room’s been so hot I can’t sleep,” Grantaire shook his head. “You haven’t been helping, either.”

“Me?” Enjolras was quite confused. “What have I done?”

“You keep taking your socks off in the middle of the night and end up kicking me in the ribs or something,” Grantaire explained. “It kinda hurts a bit.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about it?” Enjolras asked as Grantaire ate a few of the gummy candies. 

“Because I figured that I could just deal with it until we got the AC fixed,” Grantaire shrugged. 

“Well, I’m sorry I keep hitting you,” Enjolras wrapped his arm around Grantaire. “You know I don’t mean it.”

“Yeah, I know,” Grantaire leaned up and gave Enjolras a quick kiss. “Let’s just hope we get this fixed soon.”

-

Grantaire wasn’t surprised when he woke up and discovered that it was seven in the morning and the room felt like a sauna. The windows were wide open and the fan was on, but it seemed that the Parisian heat wave wasn’t going to go away any time soon. 

He spent the next few hours trying to fall back asleep, but his efforts were in vain. Try as he might, Grantaire just couldn’t get back to sleep. He didn’t know if it was because of the heat or the fact that his boyfriend had apparently decided in his sleep that he was going to use Grantaire’s chest as a pillow and was snuggling rather close to him. 

Rolling his eyes, Grantaire turned over onto his side so that he was staring at the blonde properly. After a few minutes, Enjolras was awake, eyes staring into Grantaire’s.

“Looks like someone’s awake,” Grantaire said with a smile. 

“Good morning to you, too,” Enjolras gave him a quick kiss. “How long have you been up?” 

“Quite a while,” Grantaire reached over with his right hand and grabbed his phone. “It’s almost nine-thirty.”

“That late?” Grantaire always forgot that Enjolras liked to wake up early in the mornings.

“Yeah, that late, love,” Grantaire ran his other hand through Enjolras’ curls.

“Did you sleep any better last night?” Enjolras looked up at him. 

“Not really, no,” Grantaire shook his head. “I’ll probably take a nap sometime today.”

“Maybe we can get he AC fixed today,” Enjolras suggested. “I know how you like it like the arctic tundra when you sleep.”

“I guess we’d better get up, huh?” Grantaire said with a sigh. “I’ve got to finish a painting before I go to work today.”

“Is this the one of Joly and Bossuet?” Enjolras asked as he sat up, running his hand through his hair. 

“Nah, Marius and Cosette,” Grantaire shook his head. “Just them kissing next to the fountain near the mall.”

“Oh, that’ll look nice,” Enjolras said. “I want to see it when you’re done.”

“Got it,” Grantaire grinned. It was a rare day when Enjolras asked to see one of his paintings and Grantaire wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass.

“Hey, where did my socks go?” Enjolras said suddenly.

“Your socks?” Grantaire frowned. 

“Yeah,” Enjolras nodded. “I was wearing socks when I went to bed and now I’m barefoot.”

“One seems to be on your desk,” Grantaire’s eyes scanned the room. “The other is on top of my lava lamp.”

“On the other side of the room?” Enjolras yawned as he stretched his arms in front of him.

“Apparently so,” Grantaire nodded. 

“Did I wake you up again this time?” Enjolras asked as he got out of bed to retrieve his socks.

“Yeah, but you didn’t jab me in the back like you normally do,” Grantaire rolled out of bed onto the ground as if this was normal for him.

Enjolras stared at the dark-haired man on the floor for a few seconds. He had known Grantaire for years and had lived with him for quite some time, but the cynic always found ways to amuse and confuse him at the same time.

“Babe, are you okay?” Grantaire was surprised by Enjolras’ use of a pet name.

“Babe?” he frowned in confusion. “What gives? You never call me that.”

“Well, since you rolled out of bed and onto the floor, I didn’t know if anything was wrong,” Enjolras explained, hopping on one foot as he put his sock on.

“I just felt like it,” Grantaire shrugged as he got up off the floor and went over to his dresser to get clothes. “Now let’s see, any idea how hot it’s meant to be today?”

“Not as bad as yesterday, but still pretty bad,” Enjolras answered him. “Just what we want to hear, right?” 

-

Enjolras walked back into the apartment after a long day of classes and work to find Grantaire and Courfeyrac sitting on the couch playing video games. From the look of it, they were trying to fight back a zombie horde and it looked like they weren’t doing all that well. 

“God fucking dammit, I can’t reload the shotgun because there are so many fucking zombies everywhere!”

Enjolras knew that Grantaire never really swore that much except when he was angry or when he was playing video games. 

“What’s going on with you two?” Enjolras threw his messenger bag down on the floor next to the bookcase and sat down next to Grantaire on the couch. 

“We’re playing Left 4 Dead, but we keep getting taken out by the zombies,” Courfeyrac didn’t look away from the TV, his thumb smashing down on the controller quickly. “Care to join as a third player?”

“Oh, you know I’m no good at video games,” Enjolras wrapped an arm around Grantaire’s waist. “And besides-”

“What the ever-loving fuck are you doing, you good for nothing piece of shit!?” Grantaire yelled at the TV.

“I don’t think R would like me to hold you guys back,” Enjolras glanced hesitantly at the dark-haired man sitting next to him. 

“Just as well,” Courfeyrac said as the screen pronounced that the game was over. “I think he needs to calm down a bit.”

“Jesus Christ, that was pointless,” Grantaire sighed. After a few seconds, he looked over at Enjolras and asked, “Enj, when did you get here?”

“You didn’t notice when he got home?” Courfeyrac laughed. 

“I just got back,” Enjolras said.

“Hey Enjolras, did you notice something different about the apartment?” Courfeyrac was clearly trying to change the conversation. 

“Uh, did you change the arrangement of furniture again?” Enjolras looked towards Grantaire.

“It’s cooler in here!” Grantaire exclaimed happily. “It’s so much cooler in here now!”

“Hey, you’re right!” Enjolras agreed. “I guess they fixed the AC?”

“Grantaire was talking to the repair guys when I showed up a few hours ago,” Courfeyrac said. 

“Did you find out how much this was going to cost us?” Enjolras asked Grantaire.

“I talked to the landlord about it,” Grantaire responded. “He said that it was still under warranty, so we don’t have to pay anything for the repairs.”

“I like that,” Enjolras smiled before he turned to Courfeyrac, “So not to be rude, Courf, but why are you here?”

“R wanted to use me as the subject for his next painting,” Courfeyrac replied. 

“Which I’m going to start once I get some wine,” Grantaire got off the couch and headed off towards the kitchen. “You can head over to the art room now.”

“Always with the wine, ‘Taire,” Courfeyrac said as he left the couch and headed towards the back of the apartment. 

“I guess I’ll just chill out here then,” Enjolras said, more to himself than to Grantaire or Courfeyrac. “It’ll be nice to enjoy the air conditioning for once.”


End file.
